An animal charity is calling for help to looking after dozens of German Shepherd dogs abandoned by their owners.

The need for funding emerged as pictures of an emaciated three-year-old Alsatian called Dougal appeared on social media covered in sores.

He is being cared for by the German Shepherd RRR charity who say they have 36 of the dogs at the minute many of which are in very poor health" due to years of neglect".

Charmayne Dockery, a spokesman for the the charity, told Belfast Live Dougal is suffering from serious health issues including maggot infested fur, sores on his skin and problems with his hind legs.

Sores on dog's skin are clearly visible

She added: “He’s three-years-old, but he looks a lot older. He should be at the prime of his life, but thanks to an awful lot of neglect he’s in very poor shape. He’s got mobility problems thanks to muscle wastage. Sadly, though, this is not uncommon among German Shepherds and people still buy these pups not realising they are a very intelligent breed that needs a lot of stimulation.

“They end up neglected and we get a lot of them. We manage to get some re-homed, but there are others who have socialisation problems due to the way they’ve been treated. We’ve now got 36 which we are looking after with charitable donations.”

The psychological affects of neglect seem apparent in Dougal

Dougal was ‘rescued’, the charity says, after a neighbour of the dog’s owner convinced him to hand it over as he clearly was not looking after it properly. Charmayne says the neighbour spent a year convincing the owner to co-operate during which time she feed it through a fence and once paid for veterinary services.

The dog is being treated at Glenn Veterinary Clinic outside Holywood, Co Down and the charity says he is showing signs of improvement.